Let’s make ratatouille with fresh vegetables bought at the morning market!!!🍅👨‍🍳

2026-09-272026-10-01

Hello, I’m Pingteng!♡ It’s still hot everyday here ー typical subtropical Tainan, even though September is almost over. Of all the seasons, summer is my favorite, so I hope this weather never ends!
Speaking of summer, summer vegetables come to mind, which always makes me crave eat curry or ratatouille.
So, I made ratatouille!( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)💮This blog is about cooking it. It’s just a casual little read, but I hope you enjoy it!

TOC

What inspired me was my mom’s home-cooked meal!👩

I have always loved ratatouille, because my mom used to make it all the time back home.🍳

Even since I moved to Taiwan, I’ve been craving it.

But I didn’t think I’d find it in stores, also olive oil is so expensive here.
So I’m super happy I finally got to make it!(>ω<)

Step 1: Time to gather the vegetables!

First, let’s buy some vegetables like tomatoes, onions, and green peppers at the morning market! Supermarkets are often a bit pricy….
The market is lined with lots of produce and fruit stands!

This time, I went to 鴨母寮市場(Yamuliao Market), which is a 10-minute walk from Hamuya.🦆🍅🥭

I decided to buy veggies at the store that caught my eye, which had a banner reading ”Direct from the farm! Fresh vegetables!”

Not knowing that things were about to take such a turn, I was happily snapping photos… 😿

Lots of vegetables were lined up!

The store clerks are all energetic! Some shops have price tags, and other shops don’t.
If there are no tags, you can just say 这个多少钱?(How much is this?).
The staff will tell you the price!
However, I was too nervous to ask (Cheer up, me!)
So I was super anxious about how much the bill would be during checkout.

～Checkout～
∧,,∧　　💸　
( ｡ｰ̀дｰ́ ) 💸　　　🍅🥔🥦
/ つ | つ
しー-Ｊ

AS result, it cost me almost NTD200 for this amount on the right!(‘ﾛ'(‘ﾛ'(‘ﾛ'(‘ﾛ’)!!!
When I told another grocer afterwards that I paid NTD200, she was shocked and exclaimed,

“Hǎo guì a~!!!” (So expensive!!!).

Turn out I accidentally bought them at a pricey store…(・・;)

Well, live and learn!

Step 2 調理開始 Start cooking

Let’s change the mood and start cooking!👨‍🍳
I asked my mom to send the recipe in advance. I’ll include the recipe at the end of this blog post.
This is a ratatouille I made!!! (Sorry not to take any photos during cooking.)

The taste was perfect!!💯I was very satisfied and delighted to take much nutrition by summer vegetables! The secret of making delicious ratatouille is using too much olive oil☺
You can either eat still hot, or eat cold. Next, I want to try mass production as meal prep.(ง •̀_•́)ง

Review

My mistake this time was buying overpriced vegetables, even though I went to the market looking for bargains!
The lesson learned: shops without price tags might be expensive! Always make sure to ask the price before buying… 💧

I also realized I should compare prices with other shops before making a purchase. I really respect mothers all over the world who do this naturally every week—as a beginner at cooking for myself, I now realize how amazing they are!

If you ever have the chance to visit a traditional market in Taiwan, please be careful with the prices!!
Even if you’re thinking, “I won’t understand their answer in Chinese even if I ask Zhège duōshao qián? (How much is this?)”, don’t worry! 👌
People in Taiwan are super kind, so they’ll use hand gestures to explain the price to you. They are truly so sweet 😿

Give it a try next time using Zhège duōshao qián?!

How to Make Ratatouille 👨‍🍳

[Ingredients]

Any summer vegetables you like
(e.g., tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, celery, bell peppers, eggplants, etc.)
A generous amount of olive oil
Good quality salt
6 cloves of garlic

[Key Tips](Basically, just keep chopping and adding vegetables!)

👩‍🍳 Think of it as simmering the vegetables in olive oil—give the pot a gentle shake every time you put the lid on.
👩‍🍳 Add harder vegetables first.
👩‍🍳 Cook on medium heat at the very beginning, then switch to low heat for the rest.

Steps:

1) Finely mince the garlic and onion, then put them into the pot. Add plenty of olive oil and a pinch of salt, then cover with the lid.

2) While that cooks, chop the mushrooms 🍄 → Add the mushrooms to the pot, sprinkle a pinch of salt, and cover.

3) Chop the celery → Separate the stalk and leaves.

↪ Add the celery stalk to the pot, sprinkle a pinch of salt, and cover.

4) Chop the bell peppers → Add them to the pot, sprinkle a pinch of salt, and cover.

5) Chop the eggplants → Add them to the pot, sprinkle a pinch of salt, and cover.

6) Chop the tomatoes 🍅 → Add the tomatoes last, sprinkle a pinch of salt, and cover.

↪ After 10 minutes, add the celery leaves and turn off the heat.

7) Let it sit for 20 minutes, and it’s done! ✨️★